Angelina Jolie has revealed that she recently underwent a double mastectomy.

Photograph by: Alastair Grant
, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has revealed in a New York Times op-ed that she recently underwent a preventative double mastectomy.

The 37-year-old Academy Award winner writes in the May 14 edition that she chose to have the drastic operation because she carries a “faulty” gene which her doctor estimates gives her an 87-per-cent chance of developing breast cancer and a 50-per-cent chance of having ovarian cancer.

“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could,” Jolie writes.

Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56.

In the column, Jolie says that she completed three months of medical procedures necessary to remove her breasts on April 27.

“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent,” the op-ed reads.

Jolie says that the procedures left her with only small scars and she does not feel “any less of a woman.” She also thanks partner Brad Pitt for being “so loving and supportive” during the process.

“Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has,” Jolie writes.

The column ends with a call for women to get genetic testing done to determine if they are at risk of cancer.

“Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of,” Jolie says.

Last year, Jolie was named special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She and Pitt are parents of six, including three adopted children and three biological children.

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